"Damn it, Director Hao, you can't be serious. The person's been taken to the morgue, why are you still looking for me?"
Chen Xiao was utterly bewildered.
Director Hao gave an awkward smile and said, "Chen Xiao, don't rush. I'm not asking you to treat the dead, but to help determine the cause of death."
Chen Xiao's brow furrowed. He thought to himself that he wasn't a forensic doctor, so this kind of work shouldn't fall to him.
Just then, a man and a woman arrived at the morgue entrance.
The man was tall, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, exuding an air of righteousness.
The woman was petite and cute, with a sweet face, but her stern expression created a striking contrast.
"You're here. Let me introduce you. This is Dr. Chen Xiao, the one I told you about."
Director Hao introduced them with a smile.
The man with the righteous aura glanced at Chen Xiao, his gaze slightly deepening, and he remained silent.
The woman, however, frowned after a quick look and asked Director Hao in a questioning tone, "Uncle Hao, is this the divine doctor you introduced us to? Is... is he capable?"
Seeing that Chen Xiao was not only young but also had an ordinary presence, lacking any divine doctor demeanor, the woman immediately felt a sense of disdain.
Director Hao's eyes widened, and he pretended to be angry, saying, "Xixi, you mustn't talk nonsense. Don't let Chen Xiao's age fool you. His medical skills far surpass mine, and he's even been recognized by the esteemed Elder Sun Buxian, the Sage of Chinese Medicine. If he's not capable, then no one in Jiangbei is!"
"Is that true?"
The woman's eyes widened, clearly still skeptical. She looked at Chen Xiao and asked inexplicably, "Are you really capable?"
Chen Xiao smiled faintly, "Whether I'm capable or not, you'll only know if you try. Besides, I still don't even know what I'm supposed to do."
The woman turned to the man with the righteous aura, and it was evident that he was the decision-maker between the two.
The man pondered for a moment and then said in a low voice, "Dr. Chen, this matter is of great importance. I hope that regardless of whether you succeed or not, you will not speak of what you see later. Otherwise, it might cause unnecessary panic in society."
Chen Xiao's brow furrowed. "Since you don't trust me, then let's forget it. Director Hao, I have something at home. I'll be leaving now."
With that, Chen Xiao turned to leave.
He had gone through immense hardship to help his mother recover. Rather than being questioned inexplicably by these two, he would rather go home and spend time with his mother.
"Hey, Chen Xiao, don't go yet..."
Director Hao stopped Chen Xiao, "Don't blame them. This involves a bizarre murder case, so Team Leader Song is being cautious."
"Right, I forgot to introduce you. This is Team Leader Song Zijian, who is in charge of this case."
Director Hao pointed to the man with the righteous aura to introduce him, and then introduced the woman to Chen Xiao.
"This is Luo Xi. Her father and I have a long-standing friendship. Chen Xiao, you don't have to give them face, but you must give me some face, right!"
Director Hao winked at Chen Xiao.
Chen Xiao, thinking that Director Hao had treated him well, decided to give him some face.
"Alright, let's go in and take a look first."
Seeing Chen Xiao agree to help, Director Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief and then unlocked the morgue door.
Chen Xiao's gaze sharpened. The morgue usually didn't need to be locked. The fact that it was locked today indicated that this matter was indeed not simple.
As the morgue door opened, a wave of cold air immediately hit them, and the surrounding temperature plummeted.
"Dr. Chen, please go in!"
Luo Xi's tone was somewhat imperious.
Yang Zhen followed Director Hao inside. Luo Xi and Song Zijian brought up the rear. After everyone had entered, Song Zijian carefully closed the door.
As soon as Chen Xiao entered the morgue, he saw more than a dozen bodies on the mortuary racks.
Chen Xiao asked, "Which one is the victim of the murder case?"
Song Zijian waved his hand, "All of these are."
"So many?"
Chen Xiao's face showed surprise.
He counted thirteen bodies in total.
Thirteen people dying at once was already considered a major case.
Chen Xiao stepped forward to examine them and casually asked, "Have they been autopsied? What did the forensic doctors say?"
Song Zijian replied in a flat tone, "Five forensic doctors have performed autopsies on them, but they found nothing. They couldn't even determine the cause of death. If it wasn't absolutely necessary, we wouldn't have asked Director Hao to step in."
Chen Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly and said calmly, "If I'm not mistaken, there have already been some rumors about this murder case?"
Hearing this, Song Zijian's expression turned grim, but he still nodded.
"That's right. Although we sealed off the news immediately after the murder, rumors still spread like wildfire, saying it was a vengeful spirit killing people..."
"Vengeful spirit killing people?"
Chen Xiao chuckled.
There was no such thing as a vengeful spirit killing people in this world.
Humans and ghosts were separated by the heavens and earth, and neither interfered with the other. Vengeful spirits not only wouldn't kill people without reason, but they didn't have the ability to do so.
If vengeful spirits could truly kill people, then all the bad people in the world would have already been killed by them.
And the so-called vengeful spirit killings were usually controlled by evil arts practitioners with malicious intentions.
It was never the vengeful spirits doing the killing; at most, they were just tools for murder.
The oldest of these deceased was an elderly man in his eighties, and the youngest was only a child of about ten years old. Moreover, these people bore some resemblance to each other.
Chen Xiao couldn't help but ask, "Is this a whole family?"
Song Zijian nodded, "That's right. This is a family of thirteen. They lived together, in the village of Baguaguan on the outskirts of the city."
Hearing Song Zijian's words, Chen Xiao was somewhat surprised.
In this era, families living together like this were rare, even in rural areas.
Luo Xi, seeing that Chen Xiao wasn't getting to the point after talking for so long, became impatient.
"I say, have you figured anything out yet? Look at the questions you're asking, are you conducting a census?"
"Who said I haven't figured anything out?"
Chen Xiao sneered, "The deceased have no external injuries, and the forensic doctors can't determine the cause of death, which means their deaths were indeed bizarre."
"Fine, you've just stated the obvious again!"
Luo Xi crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
Song Zijian's brow furrowed, and he tentatively asked, "Dr. Chen, you don't also subscribe to the idea of vengeful spirits killing people, do you?"
Chen Xiao shook his head, "No, vengeful spirits killing people wouldn't leave a single trace. These people died of poisoning!"